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Guatemalan man killed allegedly running from ICE
Roberto Carlos Montoya Valdez was hit by a car on the 210 Freeway in Monrovia as he was allegedly running from an ICE raid at a nearby Home Depot. The Department of Homeland Security said agents weren't chasing him.
LOS ANGELES COUNTY, Calif. - A day laborer who allegedly tried to run away from federal immigration officers outside a Home Depot in Los Angeles County died after he ran onto the 210 Freeway.
What we know:
Police in Monrovia were told that federal agents were approaching a Home Depot on Mountain Avenue around 9:45 a.m. on Thursday, August 14. According to the Monrovia Police Department, a man, later identified as 53-year-old Roberto Carlos Montoya Valdez, ran from the Home Depot parking lot on foot before getting hit by a car on the freeway around 9:50 a.m.
Monrovia city and fire departments were Valdez had crossed Evergreen Avenue and entered the eastbound lanes of the 210 Freeway before getting hit by a car.
He was taken to an area hospital where he was pronounced dead by medical personnel.
What they're saying:
The man's death sparked outrage with protesters calling for an end to ICE raids.
"It enrages me and people should be ashamed of themselves that they are treating humans like they are rats on a street," one protester said.
"It's such a tragic, senseless death," another protester said. "We just can't have this anymore."
Protesters said they believe ICE agents should be held accountable for the man's death.
One woman told FOX 11 she recently hired Valdez as a handyman.
"He was a very nice person. All he wanted was to get money to eat, to send money to his family," she said.
The National Day Laborer Organizing Network said between 10 and 13 workers were detained in Thursday’s sweep. FOX 11 obtained video from multiple sources that showed what appeared to be federal agents in the parking lot apprehending workers.
DHS provides a statement
The other side:
"This individual was not being pursued by any DHS law enforcement. We do not know their legal status. We were not aware of this incident or notified by California Highway Patrol until hours after operations in the area had concluded," a DHS spokesperson said in a released statement.
The backstory:
Thursday's deadly incident is among the latest cases where a person died trying to run away from federal agents during a raid in Southern California.
Just last month, an ICE raid broke out at a cannabis farm in Camarillo. Jaime Alanís, a farmer, tried to run away from the federal agent, but fell off a roof, killing him.
"The family is destroyed, it was something very hard that happened to the family and we just want answers, we're just destroyed," Juan Duran, Jaime's brother-in-law, said through a translator back on August 6.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Family of farmworker who died during Ventura County ICE raid speaks out
The Source: This report used information provided by the City of Monrovia, witnesses and protesters.